Hearing rumors long time users of the cgc boards are being banned indefinitely…
Can’t confirm independently…but maybe someone else can.
I wouldn’t be surprised. There were talks in the thread about class action lawsuits a while back. Members were making videos about bananagate on youtube.
Bookery-Fantasy Facebook Page Link
Bookery Fantasy
We’ve never done this before, but we feel it is time to take a stand in regards to one of the major corporate giants of the collectibles arena. Bookery can no longer recommend the grading services of CGC. We will no longer be using them as a service for our own books (the books you see in our shop have all been purchased directly from collectors, not ones we have personally sent in).
It’s been a long time coming, but with the growing multitude of scandals plaguing CGC, including an in-house fraud situation, the ability for con-artists to crack open CGC cases and substitute inferior books, and a rising host of quality-control issues, with the latest involving warped inner wells causing damage to customers’ comics, CGC has been on shaky ground.
Instead of making improvements, their new response is to fire their long-time boards liaison and replace him with an unprecedented slash and burn approach to all posts criticizing CGC in any way, or even simply asking questions about quality control issues (which often was the only way CGC previously became aware of them). Decade-long threads have simply vanished, often containing useful data and expertise, board members are suspended or banned without even knowing why, and CGC refuses to answer anyone or even offer a face to their moderation. This treatment of long-time loyal members shows a complete disregard for their customers. It goes beyond a message board to suggest this is how they feel about all of their clients. And at a minimum it raises questions about their trustworthiness.
At this point, the accumulation of flaws with the company can no longer be ignored. If you want comics graded, our official recommendation will be CBCS. PSA will also begin grading comics this coming year, so they may end up being a viable option. Again – we will continue to buy customer books that have been graded by CGC (but we will be scrutinizing them more closely, especially those graded in recent times). As for raw books, we believe our comics as a whole have always been graded more tightly and consistently than the “official” grading companies anyway. And if you point out a mistake we’ve made… we won’t “cancel” you. So there’s that!”
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Bookery Fantasy, ah that place brings back some memories. I used to go there alot back in the 2000’s. Such a good store run by good people.
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Looks like soooooooooomebody is raising their prices again 
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I just got the email. Oh that CGC…
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They’re either incompetent or desperate. Neither bodes well for their future. The timing is as bad as it’s ever been.
Interestingly, the biggest % increases are the reholder fees at $20 → $25 (25%) for regular and $50 → $75 (50%) for high value. Custom labels are also up from $5 → $8 (60%).
Makes me suspect that a new CGC case might be coming…
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This… this I never understand. It’s probably almost 100% profit to them and adds zero overall value to the slab and book. It’s like throwing a sticker on the back of your car hoping someone loves it enough to pay more for it… 
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The extreme OCD is great in many of a collector.
Id be a millionnaire for the amount of times ive heard the choice to use CGC over others because of “the label”.
Who really cares about the product, the quality, the accuracy, the damages, the scandals, the money, the fees, the the the … as long as those labels look great
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If I’m only going to display the slab, like hanging it on a wall like a piece of art, I think the custom labels really help the aesthetic as long as it matches the book.
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Another reason why 2025, folks need to completely stop sending to CGC. Values of slabbed comics are continuing to crash while it’s costing more to slab them? What sense does that make? Unless you’re preserving an older book, you’re just throwing your money away. The game is up. 2025 is the year it comes to fruition and the comic world wises up. Let’s go folks!
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I agree. But only with all other things being equal.
When quality, persistent damages, persistent scuffs and scratches, and most importantly accuracy - are sacrificed its game over for me. And the labels become akin to purchasing a yugo because the tinted glass is a nicer color.
When (example) 3/4/5 companies provide nearly identical services and product, yep, little things like labels would matter to me as well.
It just dumbfounds me how anyone would put up with the aforementioned migraine inducing competencies but continue to stick with them because of labels. I honestly dont get it
Displaying the slab or the book inside the slab? Honestly, we should make it all about the book, not what the slab looks like. Build a frame that covers the label and only shows the book inside the slab is the way to go if you ask me…
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Personally, I wish the entire way that grading works was different. Right now it is way too subjective. Its time to get AI and computers and lasers and micro measurements involved. I’m with Agentpoyo, lets do away with the labels and each gets a QR or NFC chip or whatever and when you put your phone up against the slab it takes you to the database that shows where this book ranks against every other copy ever graded. So that I know this slab I’m holding is the 6th best ever graded, or the 454th best, or the most perfect copy ever sent in. It will always be moving as more examples are added. All the measurements are done automatically, right down to reflectivity, gloss, color trueness on the cover, and to the nanometer of sharpness on the corners so that no humans and their bias can screw it up.
Could you imagine the money being tossed around as people try to find the #1 for their favourite books? Epic.
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Bingo! Been pushing this idea for years. And the company that steps up with capital and invests in this concept will reap the benefits in all avenues of hobbies - comics, cards, toys, video games, posters, etc… Say goodbye to the current pretenders
The B.S. of me getting a 9.2, knowing it’s NOT a 9.2/9.4, cracking out, and resending in with nothing else done to to comic; only to get a 9.8 should cease (yes this did happen to me on several occasions).
I wouldn’t go so far to call grading a scam; but it is a bullsh*t scheme with that elephant over there in the corner laughing at us.
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I really like the idea for taking out the human element in grading. Somewhere you’ve got to be able to standardize the definition because there’s a thousand weird types of damage to capture both inside and outside and the more you can narrow that down to a repeatable set of rules, the better.
Just off the top of my head, is it worth it to start with just calculating the area of the page affected by [generic flaw] and then add a multiplier if it’s color breaking or missing? Seems like you could lump a lot of flaws into a base system without really having to know what they are (ticks, color rub, spine roll, indentations, folds, etc). But something algorithmic like that seems like it would be at odds with the current ‘methods.’ So maybe it’s worth tying something in to recognize a spine tic, from a corner fold, etc.
That says nothing of things that might pop up as ‘flaws’ that are part of the printing technology of the time. Do you count them as flaws? or natural aging?
I’ll be the first to point out that I have no idea what I’m talking about regarding grading, but from my layman point of view, it seems like you could prop up an 80-90% solution pretty easily but the devil would be in all the weird outliers and how you count them in a way that fits the ethos of taking human fuzziness out of the grading.
Just wondering aloud about the hypothetical.
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